Michael Meacher says there is a crisis in agriculture

Environment minister Michael Meacher acknowledged that more needed to be done to help the ailing industry, amid revelations that farmers were losing cash on almost all livestock they bred.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I accept that. There is no doubt that we do have the worst crisis in agriculture for many, many years."

Michael Meacher: We inherited the problem

But he added: "That is a situation we inherited, we have of course got to deal with it, but it is not of our own making."

Mr Meacher said Labour had done a great deal to help farmers, although he accepted it was not sufficient and he wanted to see an increase in "agri-environment" measures to boost the industry.

His comments came after Agriculture Minister Nick Brown ruled out cash aid, despite desperate pleas for help.

Farmers' anger

Farmers facing plummeting lamb prices were furious at Mr Brown's suggestions that they were partly to blame for the crisis.

They said the damage had been caused by the BSE crisis, new health regulations and the strength of sterling.

But Mr Brown had said they had oversupplied the market for two years and there was now no "easy solution".

Michael Ancram says things have got worse

The Conservatives claimed thousands of farms would be forced to close, causing millions of animals to suffer and making consumers more dependent on imports, if Mr Brown did not change his mind and launch a survival plan.

At the same time, figures collected by The Independent newspaper showed prices were collapsing so badly most farmers were making nothing from their animals.

Conservative Party chairman Michael Ancram urged the government to bolster the ailing sheep market by taking action against imports from abroad.

"We want to hear the voice of the countryside listened to. I'm not saying that this government doesn't care about the countryside, but it doesn't understand the countryside and therefore it ignores the countryside," he said.

The Tories want the government to introduce a number of measures, including lifting the beef-on-the-bone ban, reinstating the calf processing aid scheme and securing better labelling on meat products to boost British produce.

Animal dumping

The latest farming crisis exploded on to the agenda because of a series of problems on the world market for sheep meat, which has meant rock bottom prices for their skins and wool.

But Mr Brown has condemned the actions of some farmers in dumping calves and sheep with no market value in animal sanctuaries, and even phone boxes.

RSPCA officials are considering cruelty charges against "utterly irresponsible" farmers who abandoned a flock of sheep at one of their centres.

The 335 animals were dumped at the charity's Bryn-y-maen base, near Colwyn Bay, north Wales, by 45 farmers who claimed they could not afford to keep them or have them slaughtered.